“Name Three Good Things About Yourself in Mathematics” – An Intervention to Reduce Pre-Service Teachers’ Shame in Mathematics

Abstract

Shame is an unpleasant and activating emotion that affects learners’ achievement, including in mathematics, and pre-service teachers’ identity development. It is closely connected with the self. The current study investigated the efficacy of an intervention adapted from positive psychology aiming to reduce pre-service primary teachers’ shame in mathematics. Accordingly, the three good things technique was adapted with respect to the self. The efficacy of the intervention was analyzed in comparison to a qualified control group and a control group receiving no intervention. Participants were allocated at random to the three groups. In total, n = 176 pre-service primary school teachers took part in the experiment for a duration of five weeks with exercises twice a week. Findings suggest small positive effects of the adapted intervention on shame reduction in mathematics and superior effects in comparison to both control groups.